report 21

 Today I'd like to write about what i have done earlier which is BIEE orientation!!

First of all, BIEE, Bunsai Intercultural Educational Exchange, is Japanese group of foreign exchange program. And I studied in the US 2021-22 thru this group. They had an orientation for students who will go to the US this summer and I was able to join as SA(survived angels). I gave some advises to them and help them to prepare for foreign exchange program. Btw, it held May 3-5 in Tokyo. 

When I get there, there were many staffs who gave me good advises 2 yrs ago before I flied to the US. I was so glad about the reunion and excited for working with them in these 3 days. I was not sure I could be a help for students. I asked myself " Do I deserve to wear the colorful t-shirt?!". But it was super fun to have discussions w/ new students, and so on. I learned from other SA how I can give good advises. Also, there were staffs from the US foreign exchange agent. They're called FLAG. I've seen them in smooth landing but it had been a while since then. I enjoyed talking w/ them. I really like this union bc it's small group. That's why everyone is very close, we know ea other very well and can share anything. They are all good, nice people there. They are always there to help others. This group gives me a comfy space!

In the orientation, we started with introducing ea other at first. I recognized some students bc I saw them in BIEE before, but it was still difficult for me to remember everyone's name. New students looked so nervous bc that was a first time to see other students. There are some students who already decided their host family, but most of them didn't still have one.

We had several sessions in a group, and discussed why they go to study in the US, who to call when something is happened. There is also a session which SA told students their experience. And some students came to me to hear my experience. So I told them about smooth landing which was held before I went to Dillsburg, host family, NHS, basketball team, track team, what I did on the weekend, what brought to the US, and so on. There was never enough time to tell them whole story bc I never felt enough and had a lot of things to talk about. It was super fun to talk about what I did in the US. It reminded me so many fun memories. I hope these my stories got help for new students. And I really hope there is a student who will stay in Dillsburg! If so, that's gonna be so much fun!

On second day, students had a session which had a meeting w/ FLAG staff one on one in only Eng ofc. They looked so nervous before their turn came and worried about their Eng skills. Well I had same felt w/ them, and I told them everything would be alright. Eventually they made it and they looked so relieved.

There was a session called "study case" which students are supposed to think what to do when they face some difficulties during stay in the US. And it was a good impact for me. I had had it too 2yrs ago, but I didn't know that SA checked everyone's answers and analyze what they felt. It took a lot of time and work. One thing made me feel difficult was there is no right answer. You need to write your opinion, then there is never right or wrong. It was very interesting to compare w/ other's opinion. 

The last day, FLAG staffs gave students message and we gave a thank you letter to them.

We are sitting and listening to their message.

Thru this orientation, I felt I couldn't have done my foreign exchange program w/o their help. I found that it takes so many works, a lot of time by stuffs and SA. At the same time, I really appreciate everyone for what they had done for me to make it. This foreign exchange program is not consisted not only my work, but many people's help. And I was so grateful that I had a chance to have this program in this group 2 yrs ago, and was so proud myself to be SA in this group this yr. This orientation gave me many inspirations to make myself think about the meaning why I studied abroad and what I wanna do in my future. This became a great experience for me and I'm pretty sure that was a good chance to grow up and build myself.

I'll try hard to be a good SA who I tell new students good advises like SA did for me. And I'd def like to join these opportunities next time too. It was a great experience and I really appreciate BIEE for giving me this opportunity. I really enjoyed it. 

Thank you so much for reading!! 

report 20

 I haven't written the report for a while. I have been kind of busy currently.

Today I'd like to write my new updates Jan thru March.

I had my school off until Jan 5th. During winter vacation, I had some track practices, went out with my family, hung out with my friends etc. 

Jan 4

I and my family went hiking and had lunch at the restaurant belong the beach. Where we went was actually near my HS. There were many tourists around there. It wasn't freezing and it was really good weather. We were able to see the horizon far away over the beautiful ocean!! The higher we went, the more beautiful the view of the ocean became. Here are some pics. I had a good lunch at the rooftop restaurant, and felt so relaxed up there.

Jan 14

I had a track practice in the morning. Then I went to the grave with my mom and aunt. At dinner, I went out have a burger with one of my friends at school in Kamakura. It was fun time. The burger reminded me one dad often made by the grill. I miss it so much.

Jan 20

My friends came to my house to have dinner together. We've known ea since we were elementary scholars. One of them works at the pizza restaurant, so we had some delivery pizza. We spent time for just eating and chatting bunch of things until late at night. They were so fun to be together. Fun friday night.

Jan 22

I went to see a movie with my friend. I missed her bc we've not seen a while. I really enjoyed talking with her before the movie, at the restaurant. We ate a lot. I was so full and kind of worried if I fell asleep during the movie lol. We watched a Japanese movie. I saw some famous actors in that movie. It was okay. My friend teared up but it didn't hit me right in my feelings. Still, I had a good time.  

Jan 26

This day was Momo's bday. I had school same as usual. During the morning track practice, I went to Hatsumoude which means I went to the shrine for first time of the year. It was near my school. Because it was kind of early in the morning, literally nobody was there. At night, we celebrated Momo's bday with cake. It was her favorite one, which we got at Costco. I can't still believe that she turned in 14. Time flies.

These are some of the pics from random days in Jan.

At school, we had some activities outside and I took a pic with my some classmates.

Morning track practice. I went to the beach with my friend. We were supposed to run along the beach, but we ended up just taking some pics lol

On my way home

It was beautiful sunset over the horizon. I'm so glad that I can see beautiful views like this on my way home from school.

Feb 15

My HS had an entrance exam on the day so we had our school off. I went to Asakusa in Tokyo. It's like an hour away. There were bunch of ppl there. I talked to tourists from different country to take pics of them in front of Kaminari-mon. ( a pic below) But he said it's ok bc they've done, then somehow, he took pics of us.

There are many food carts so I enjoyed eating many snacks. After that we walked to Tokyo Sky Tree. It was near where we were. Tokyo Sky Tree is taller than Tokyo Tower. I can't even tell how tall it is. It was one of the most active days. On the train on my way home was super crowded. I was die tired when I got home. But I'm sure this day became a special memory with my friend. 

Feb 16

I went to Tokyo again, this time, with my mom. My mom had wanted to visit national museum in Tokyo. I didn't expect visiting there is so much fun bc you know, it's museum. But actually it was interesting to see many stuffed animals and fossils of the dinosaurs. I also enjoyed sightseeing in Tokyo. I and my mom visited Ame-Yoko-Cho. There were tons of restaurants and shops along the train road, and so crowded with many ppl. We had lunch there. Then we walked to Tokyo station. It became dark outside on the way. Tokyo station looked beautiful with some lights. I got on the crowded train two days in a row which was great. I was super tired again. It was long fun day.

March 1-7 

I had a final exam week. It was super long and I felt stressful. I tried hard to study. I really missed running bc we didn't have any track practice the week. I hoped it went over so soon... then it's over now yay!

March 9 

I went to see a movie called RRR. My mom and older sis have seen it and they really liked it, so they suggested me to see it. It was an Indian movie, and 3hours long. I haven't seen any Indian movies. So I was sure it was gonna be a new interest to me. It was an action movie with musical. I haven't seen similar movies. I enjoyed it and I highly recommend it. If you have a chance, you definitely see it.

 

So those are some updates. The new school semester is coming soon. So I'll keep update how it goes.

report19

 Hi you all!! How are you?

I really like winter season bc we have many holidays & events!!

I'll tell you how we celebrate fun holidays here! I experienced American style ones last year, so I know there r some differences.

First of all, it's common to celebrate Christmas in Japan. But here, it's more friends thing or couple thing. I know many ppl stay at home and spend time with their family in the US.

On the other hand, in Japan, especially for young ppl/teenagers it's common to hang out or go out with their friends or girl/boyfriend. It depends on ppl for sure, but most of my friends hung out with their friends.

For me, I stayed at home with my family on Christmas Eve. (I had a track practice in the morning) I made a Christmas cake with my sister. I had a special dinner with my family, my mom cooked chicken. Then we watched the best Christmas movie, Die hard! I love that movie & literally watch it on every Christmas.

On Christmas day, I went on a small trip to Nagano in Japan with my sister and our friends. I found there was a present under the Christmas tree, but I didn't have time to open it bc we needed to leave home for a trip. It took 3 hrs to get there by bus. I enjoyed skiing on the mountain. I have skied before and I think skiing is very difficult bc it means you are controlling something with your leg strength and your athletic balance. But when you really get good at, it’s so satisfying.  I like the sound of my skis carving through the snow and the feel of not really touching the ground. Plus the scenery on a snow covered mountain is amazing!! I don’t even care how cold it is outside during skiing.It had been a while, but I could do it.  We were lucky with the weather. It was great for skiing though it was about 35 degrees in F. I could experience white Christmas. We had ramen for lunch. It was so good and it warmed me up. After lunch, we enjoyed skiing again. We left skiing resort at 4. 

These are some pictures from the small trip >>

Those are what I did on this Christmas <3

report 18

 Hi. Today, Id like to write what I have been up to lately.

Here, it's getting colder and colder...

Last week it was exam week which sounds terrible. We have 4 big exam week in every school year. We take 10-14 tests for 3-5 days. And it affects our grade to go to university. This is how Japanese high school works.

Anyways, so I tried hard to study. I woke up at 4am every morning to study. It was still dark outside. And it was hard at first, but I'm used to it. Now I can get up at 4 am w/o alarm lol. I still take DMM English lessons! I always introduce myself like this: I like listening to American pop music, and my favorite artist is Bruno Mars. Then most of teachers laugh.

This week exam week is over, and we have Christmas coming up soon!!!

My mom decorated our house with Christmas decorations! We always decorate a big Christmas tree in living room. This year, it's different a little bit. We got new ornaments which I got last year. So it got much better!! I wanna tell my family and friends how I spent time on Christmas last year. I'd like to make Christmas dishes, bake Christmas cookies!! I have many plans to hang out with my friends. I'll go out to have dinner with my friend, play basketball just for fun, go to Christmas market, go skiing, and so on.  I also go to the beach in my freetime.

                          Our Christmas tree

                       When I went to the beach with my mom

Today I took a public bus from Kamakura. And there was a lady from different country. She looked having trouble to find somewhere in the map. So I talked to her. She said she's from Australia and she came here for her work. And she was going to the temple for sightseeing. We chitchatted a little, and I told her how to pay money for the bus. It was so fun to talk with her. 

Also I and my family get into watching FIFA World Cup. Japan beat Germany and Spain which was a big thing!! Now all of Japanese are excited for watching next game :)) In my class, there are some guys talking about it. But the game are always held midnight or early in the morning. So it's kinda difficult to watch on time. We'll see which country gonna win the tournament.

This picture is taken near my HS. I can often see beautiful sunset.

When I ran along the beach with my track member.

Anyways these are what I do currently and what is coming up to!

report 17 my 17 birthday

 Today I'd like to write about my birthday which was about a month ago.

On my birthday, my friends at high school celebrated me on Instagram which made me super happy. Some of them sent me literally on time on my birthday like 0:00. That made me surprised a little bit, ofc i was sleeping lol.

I had school on that day, so I just woke up same as usual, nothing changed, just went to school. When I saw my friends saw me in the hallway, they said to me happy birthday. That was so kind of them. I was so thankful for them they knew my birthday & celebrated it.

At lunch time, my friends celebrated me with many candies... I was super pleased about it. So now I have tons of candies! It's been a month since the day, but I can never finish it!! It's such a grateful "problem" lol.

When I got home from school with many candies, my mom prepared for me a " special dinner" which I ordered the dish which put white sauce, many cheese (ofc;), and many ingrediencies such as chicken veggies and mushroom on baked rice. I really liked it. And OFC I had nacho cheese !!! It's been a while to have nacho cheese... Ive missed it sm:)) After that, we celebrated with a cake!

About that time, I got a video message from my host family in the US. They sent me a birthday message on my birthday even tho we have like 14hrs time differences. They sang a song for me. My host sister was wearing a swim cap for no reason or put stuffed animal on her stomach which made me laugh so bad. Also they sent me a birthday gift. They know what I like.... I loved the nails which they sent me!! They are so sweet. I was so happy to see it and it reminded me what we did last year...

I remember in the morning my host mom gave a hug with telling me happy birthday...My host dad came down to downstairs to tell me happy birthday even tho he sleeps normally at the time in the morning...My host sisters said happy birthday to me too, and played a birthday song with singing in the car on the way to school. I still have the video!!!

At school, my friends and basketball teammates told me happy birthday when we saw in the hallway. My favorite teacher, Ms. Bonner, she wrote my name on white board bc of my birthday which I'll never forget such a sweet thing! (also I'll never forget that I took American government test in her class on the day either...) My host mom made lasagna and chocolate with peanuts butter icing. I literally loved the cake!! I'm concerning why we don't have the cake in Japan!

I had a great time last birthday!!!

Anyways, back to birthday this year...

My US many friends celebrated my birthday this year too!!They sent me messages on snap or they posted on story on Instagram. I was super happy to see that!! My best friend, who played basketball in last season, she sent a birthday gift with a birthday card!!! She is such a sweetheart... Snickers (my fav candies) she shipped me made me so happy... They are all far from here, in Japan. But we're still connected. I'm so thankful for them that they stay in touch with me!! I always think about them!!

17 birthday

Many candiesss!!

My friends celebrated my birthday on instagram.

Again, Thank you all for having sent me birthday messages!!!

report 16

 Hello again.

I'll write about Bruno Mars concert today.

So basically, I went to the concert last Thursday. How I got the ticket is gonna be a long story.

I applied for the tickets whenever I found out Bruno was gonna have  a concert in Japan. I tried to get 2 tickets. But there were so many people who tried like me so unfortunately I couldn’t get the tickets. I was sooo disappointed bc I just missed the opportunity to meet him!!! 

One day my friend from junior high school who has been a big fan of Bruno asked me whether I got tickets or not. As you know I said no, she was like “No way bc I got two tickets!!” I was like “ Omg how could you and couldn’t I?” And I asked her if I could have any chance to get one if she had two. I said it as a joke. But she told me she would ask her brother so maybe he would give me one of the tickets. 

After that she said her brother allowed me to go to Bruno’s concert instead of going himself. I felt nothing but thankful him for all things having done for me. After the moment, I was super excited for it. It was the first time I go to the concert which is Bruno’s! He’s literally popular in whole world!! Moreover, I can go with my friend!! I called her to thank her and her brother. 

Eventually I got a chance to go to Bruno’s concert somehow!

It was on Thursday, so I left school a little earlier than usual. I was super excited, and I talked to many friends about the concert. 

It took about an hour to get to the concert stadium in Tokyo. There were so many people and everyone looked so excited!! We took bunch of pictures around the stadium with Bruno’s screen. After that we went to the store to see his goods. There were t shirts hats and towels with Bruno’s picture and Japanese flags but I didn’t get anything bc I already have a t-shirt which my best friend in the US got me at his concert!! I really appreciate her!!

                                     

I made "Bruno mask" lol

We could enter the stadium smoothly although there were a lot of people. We entered before an hour just in case. Our seats were great. We could literally see Again, we took many pictures in the stadium. It played pop music in the stadium. 

I'm gonna write about the concert.

                                 

It started with "moonshine"!! It was good starting. I screamed when he started singing. And after that he sang many popular songs like, 24k, treasure, runaway baby, chunky, just the way you are, marry you, etc... He sang with good voice, and he danced with good moves... It was just awesome.

And he spoke to the audience. He remembered Japanese word "kawaii" which means cute pretty &sweet. It was kinda funny bc he said it a lot. 

I was anxious a little bc he never sang my fav song, up town funk. He sang it at very last. So I had been waiting for it!!!

Anyways I sang and jump a lot. It was lit!!!I really enjoyed it!

report15

 Hi guys!!

I've not talked with any people in the US for a while so I feel I'm missing ya'll.

It's getting so cold here currently which it sucks that I needa ride a bike every day to go to school. It takes about 15 min to get to the station by bike. This morning, I was freakin cold and my hands hurt so bad. 

I hate winter bc it's cold u know. I prefer staying in hot place ig. Ru with my side or not. Anyways I've already missed summer lol.

Btw it's Tuesday, Oct 25. Today was just same as usual. 

I woke up at 4:45, made a black coffee to wake me up, get ready for DMM (video chat with foreign ppl), get ready to go to school.

My mom made packed lunch for me which she's always done for me. Today's lunch was awesome. Fried chicken which I had made for my HF before and they literally loved was in it. I loved it.

Today my train was a little late, but I made it on time. I took classes. I had a gym class which we played basketball. I've been so excited bc I've not played it since on American girls basketball team. It was enjoyable, I had a great time.

Today's history class was difficult. I was kinda falling asleep lol. I couldn't concentrate on it. We needed to write an essay about the situation in the world before WW2. It was so difficult to search the data and write a good essay. I haven't done it so I needa make it up by Friday.

After school I had a track practice. Again, it was cold I was almost freezing. We ran in the track and did some exercises. It was not bad, just freezing.  

Then I went home at 18:00 ig. I took a bath, had dinner w my family watched on TV and now get ready for going to bed.

Exciting thing!!! Bruno Mars's concert is coming very very soon. I'm literally excited!!! I already decided the fits for the special day. I'm gonna have fun and I'll post comments w pics after the concert for sure. So just wait for me:))

I'm so happy that I have a lot of exciting things these days. I literally feel it's been so fast to past time. It's end of Oct, that is crazy!!! But anyways I'll let u know what I'm up to and of course Bruno Mars!!

So if u have any free time, just text me and fill me in. I'd love to talk w u!!!

Good night